Volta Resources Inc TSX:VTR announced results of a prefeasibility study for its Kiaka Gold Project in south Burkina Faso. The study is based on proven and probable reserves of 126.08 million tonnes at a diluted grade of 0.96 g/t gold for 3.89 million ounces gold, with annual mining of 12 million tonnes of gold ore from a single open pit at a strip ratio of 2.95:1 and an average metallurgical recovery of 89.84%.

The study projects a capex of $609.7 million and average operating costs of US$671 an ounce for a pretax NPV of $548 million assuming a gold price of $1,372 per ounce and an 8% discount rate, with a pretax IRR of 23.3% with a 4.3-year payback on initial capital. Annual production is estimated at 340,000 ounces gold over a life of 10.3 years.

Volta holds an 81% interest in the project. A local company holds 9% as a participating partner, and the Burkina Faso state owns a 10% free-carried interest.

President/CEO Kevin Bullock stated, “These are monumental results for Volta that widely exceeded our expectations and place Volta firmly on the path to production. It’s notable that the strong economic benefits arise from conservative assumptions and, along with numerous options for optimization, we are confident that we can make these numbers even more powerful. We will continue our aggressive pace toward production. We will continue drilling our new high-grade deposit and conclude various technical tasks in order to begin a feasibility study as soon as possible.”